Quotable: Charlie Manuel Doesn’t Believe Demotion Is The End for Phillippe Aumont

Quotable: Charlie Manuel Doesn’t Believe Demotion Is The End for Phillippe Aumont

Philllippe Aumont made just four relief appearances over the past two weeks amid whispers he could be sent down to the minors. Aumont’s last two appearances didn’t help his cause, as the big righty got rocked in each, and on Wednesday it was finally reported he would report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

While this has been a disappointing development for the 24 year old and the Phillies’ bullpen though, Charlie Manuel was upbeat about it. Via the Inquirer’s Matt Gelb, the skipper still envisions a day when Aumont could be a vital piece late in games.

"He has all the potential in the world," Manuel said. "One of these days, Aumont has a chance to be a big-time back-end bullpen piece. But right now he needs to pitch and get regular work in to develop his pitches."

Aumont got off to an okay start in 2013, getting stuck with a couple of losses on unearned runs, but the wheels were bound to come off. He’s walked 10 batters in 16 appearances, and he’s only had one clean inning all season where he surrendered zero hits or freebies back on April 23. Sooner or later that had to catch up with him.

Obviously his command needs work, but that’s been the report on Aumont since he came to the organization from Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade. He’s young, and it’s hard not to like an imposing, hard-throwing righty in this mold, so you just have to hope he can tweak a few things during this minor-league stint.

Gelb believes Mike Stutes could be promoted, his first trip back to the Majors since being shut down last April with a shoulder injury. No announcement is expected until Friday.

Matt Rhule's first Baylor hires include 4 Temple assistants

Matt Rhule's first Baylor hires include 4 Temple assistants

WACO, Texas -- New Baylor coach Matt Rhule has made some immediate Texas connections by hiring the president of the state's high school coaches who is a former Bears receiver.

Rhule announced his first five hires with the Bears on Friday, three days after being named Baylor's coach. They include four members from his staff at Temple and David Wetzel, the head coach and athletic director the past 13 seasons at Ronald Reagan High School in San Antonio.

Sean Padden will serve as Baylor's director of football operations, similar to his role at Temple the past four years.

Rhule didn't immediately announce the titles and job duties for Wetzel, Francis Brown, Mike Siravo and Evan Cooper. There was also no indication of when the rest of his staff would be completed.

Brown and Siravo were defensive assistants at Temple, and Cooper was director of player personnel for the Owls.

Wetzel, who has coached in the state high school ranks for 25 years, was serving as president of the Texas High School Football Coaches Association. He lettered at Baylor in 1990 and 1991 while playing for Grant Teaff, and also earned a master's degree from the school in 1994. Before Reagan, he was head coach at schools in Killeen and Austin.

Wetzel told the Waco Tribune-Herald that he expects to play a major role in recruiting, but didn't know yet if he'd be coaching offense or defense.

"Given the opportunity, it's really a unique deal," Wetzel told the newspaper. "I feel like it's God's timing for me to be in the right place at the right time."

When Rhule was introduced Wednesday in Waco, he said he had already received about 480 text messages, many from coaches. He also didn't rule out the possibility of some of the current Baylor assistants staying, but said he hadn't had a chance to meet with them. Those assistants were retained from former coach Art Briles' staff with Jim Grobe as acting head coach this season.

NoteBaylor announced Friday that Jalen Pitre, a defensive back from Stafford, Texas, signed a financial aid agreement that will allow him to enroll for the spring 2017 semester after graduating from high school early. Before Rhule was hired, Pitre was the only player verbally committed for Baylor's recruiting class in February. He had 83 tackles, six interceptions and four forced fumbles as a senior.

Dorial Green-Beckham didn't support any charity with his cleats last Sunday.

In reality, he was funding the NFL.

The Eagles' receiver was fined $6,076 by the NFL for wearing Yeezy cleats (Kanye West's shoes), which had no affiliation to a charitable organization or cause, CSNPhilly.com has confirmed. Players around the NFL last weekend wore decorative spikes supporting a charity or cause they felt passionately about as part of the league's My Cleats, My Cause promotion. Green-Beckham was fined because his cleats were unapproved by the league; earlier this season Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins was fined for wearing Yeezy cleats.